Heart of the Matter Podcast: Tengah woes - Legitimate concerns or normal teething problems?

[LaksaNews]

Some of the first batch of residents who moved into Singapore's newest HDB town have complained of lack of shops, poor internet connection and condensation issues with the centralised cooling system - the first of its kind in a residential estate.

Are teething problems to be expected when building a new town or have buyers' expectations changed? Woo Jun Jie from the Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy at the National University of Singapore, and Nicholas Mak, a real estate analyst, discuss with Steven Chia.

Host Steven Chia with guests Woo Jun Jie and Nicholas Mak. (Photo: CNA/Junaini Johari)
Woo Jun Jie:

Punggol had issues with transport connectivity and amenities ... teething problems are quite common (but in Tengah), it was exacerbated by the size of the estate and secondly, there was COVID, there were all these delays.

Nicholas Mak:

We are a nation of instant trees, one moment the road is bare, a week later, you've got adult trees. So Singaporeans begin to expect (more). Homeowners also put in their hard earned money to buy the biggest assets of their life.

Jump to these key moments:

• 1:30 What goes into the planning of a new town
• 4:30 The challenge of a multi-agency effort
• 7:29 Issues with the centralised cooling system
• 11:40 Will waiving costs make a difference?
• 14:20 Lessons from Tengah for other new estates

Find more episodes of Heart of the Matter here.

A new episode of Heart of the Matter drops every Friday. Follow the podcast on Apple or Spotify for the latest updates.

Have a great topic for us? Drop the team an email at cnapodcasts [at] mediacorp.com.sg

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